UNT performance of oratorio set for Jan. 29

The UNT Baroque Ensemble and Collegium Singers will participate in three performances of Handel's oratorio Jephtha this month, including one on campus.

The work is being directed by Graeme Jenkins, artistic director of the Dallas Opera.

The oratorio is a retelling of the biblical story of the Israelite general Jephtha, whose impetuous pledge to God imperils the life of his own daughter. Written in 1751, it is the last of Handel's oratorios and considered one of his most dramatic.

Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. in Dallas Jan. 28 at the Meyerson Symphony Center, on campus Jan. 29 at the Murchison Performing Arts Center and in Fort Worth Jan. 31 at TCU's Ed Landreth Hall.

For the second time in three years, Jenkins will direct a major work by Handel in collaboration with UNT and a local professional early music ensemble.

In 2001, Jenkins led musicians from Fort Worth Early Music and UNT in a performance of Handel's Israel in Egypt, which was described as "riveting" by Dallas Morning News critic Scott Cantrell and later named one of the "Top 10 Events of 2001."

The Jephtha performances will combine the talents of the Dallas Bach Society and the UNT groups, as Jenkins conducts six professional soloists, a 44-voice choir and a 40-piece Baroque orchestra.

The instrumentalists will perform in Baroque style, on reproductions of the forerunners of modern orchestral strings, as well as natural trumpets and horns and a variety of Baroque oboes and bassoons. Underpinning this will be a large harmonic accompaniment ensemble consisting of harpsichords, chamber organ and theorboes (a kind of large, long-necked lute).

The choir will be joined by guest soloists Jennifer Lane, an acclaimed international recording artist, and distinguished local artists Rebecca Choate Beasley, Scot Cameron, Kim Childs, Lynn Eustis and Jeffrey Snider.

James Richman serves as artistic director of the Dallas Bach Society. Lyle Nordstrom is director of early music activities at UNT. The early music program is one of the largest preprofessional programs in North America, attracting students locally and internationally.

For tickets to the Denton or Fort Worth performances, call (940) 369-7802. To reserve tickets for the Dallas concert, call (214) 320-8700 or visit www.dallasbach.org.

The series is partially funded by the E. Nakamichi Foundation and the UNT Fine Arts Series.

BY KELLEY REESE kreese@unt.edu

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